First Feed Tomorrow

[wytchling]

Tomorrow will be Ophion's first feed since I got him. According to the place where I got him, he only eats live and that has my nerves up a bit. Not because it bothers me that he will be eating a live mouse, (I raised mice/rats for pet stores for years and the concept just doesn't phase me) but because I've seen one to many stories about the prey hurting the snake.

So, my questions are...

Do I watch him the whole time the mouse is in with him? Will that stress him out and make him not want to eat?

Also, I've seen conflicting stories about whether or not to feed in a separate tub from the one he lives in. I've heard it makes them more aggressive to feed where they live.

*sigh* I'm such a newb at this and I just want to do what is absolutely best for Op. I realize BPs don't have the emotional capacity that a dog/cat does but I still worry. LOL.

[el8ch]

Morning,

I have yet to have any problems feeding live and find it easier than F/T. Typically the feeding should not take too long depending on your snakes feeding response. Error on the side of caution and monitor his feeding and have some tongs on stand-by in case you feel the need to interject if he doesn't feed and the prey item is nippy.

I feed in my tubs. Ball Pythons stress easily and taking them out and setting them in a separate tank can cause them to not eat or have a poor feeding response. In my collection I have seen no negative impact in the snake aggressiveness due to feeding in their tubs.

Happy Feeding!

[RetiredJedi]

The aggressiveness thing is a myth and feeding in a seperate tub or in the enclosure is a personal preference just like feeding live or frozen. There are MULTIPLE threads on here of people going back and forth about what they like better and reasons why but it all boils down to what your BP and you do best with and stick to that routine.

I personally feed all three of my BPs f/t in their enclosures and the only issue I have had is my newest one acting weird while he was swallowing but that had nothing to do with where he ate. There has been no aggression and as a matter of fact my pastel has become very chilled out since I got him.

Best advise is to figure out how you like to feed your BP and stick to it. Good Luck

[Slashmaster]

Do I watch him the whole time the mouse is in with him? Will that stress him out and make him not want to eat?

Yes. If you are feeding live, be there watching the feeding to ensure the mouse or rat doesn't start trying to hurt your snake. Having a pair of tongs is useful for this. If he strikes poorly (hits the stomach, etc) you can put the tongs in the rodent's mouth to prevent it from biting the snake.

Never leave a rodent unattended with a snake. Take the rodent out if 15 minutes have elapsed and the snake has not taken it.

I have 2 snakes that really dislike rats that walk all over them. They will not strike and coil unless I grab the rodent by the tail and dangle it in front of the snake (maybe they are lazy). Then they strike. If your snake is not striking try that before putting the rodent away to wait for next week.

We like to put some food in there with the rodent so that it can inspect the food and nibble on that instead of the snake, if it is hungry.

It shouldn't stress him out. If it does, try dimming the lights/choosing to feed after dark and see if that helps stimulate the feeding process. My hatchlings didn't want to feed with me looming over them, but they did when they were put into an extra enclosure and placed back in the rack (security). But they are feeding on rat crawlers, so no possible damage could be done to them. My subadults don't mind me looming.

I've seen conflicting stories about whether or not to feed in a separate tub from the one he lives in.

I choose to feed my snakes in a separate enclosure. This makes it easier for me to clean when the mouse or rat poops everywhere, which they have been known for doing. One of my snakes is also a bit of a sloppy striker, and has caused a rat to bleed everywhere. Easier to clean when I can stick my snake in his enclosure and rinse off the feeding tub.

I also like feeding in another tub because it allows me to open the tub and hold the snake. The more handling (outside of the 48 hour period after feeding) the better.

I have snakes who will hiss at me for opening the tub. Other snakes have struck because I removed them from their hide. I'm not sure feeding affects aggressiveness but I like that separate tub feeding lets me clean easier.

[RetiredJedi]

Yes like Slash said, if you are feeding live you should watch the entire feed. Keep us posted on how it goes.

[wytchling]

Thank you guys SO much. I know I'm just being an over protective new BP mama and once all goes smoothly my nerves will calm down. It doesn't help that I was always on the mice/rat end of the business either. LOL. I really do appreciate ya'll's input. It makes me feel a lot better.

I am going to wait until tomorrow evening after dark to feed Ophion since he seems to like to come out of his hide and chill once the kids have gone to bed and everything has quieted down. He's a nosy little bugger so I don't think he is stressed out or anything at the moment so I'm sure that will help out with his feed a lot as well.

[el8ch]

Yeah, I find that I get more feeding success when I feed at night or later in the evening. Like Jedi said earlier you will get to know your snake and what works best with him. Hope verything goes nice and smooth for you.

[EverEvolvingExotics]

I hope the feeding went well!

[wytchling]

Op and I managed to get through his first feed. He did eat the mouse butt first tho. Now that we've gotten that out of the way I noticed last night after the feed that his eyes are bluish grey so I'm assuming we are heading into his first shed. It's apparently a week of firsts for us. Lol.

[RetiredJedi]

Congrats!!! That is a big deal and a big step to overcome.